The Next Legend
by Miss Mysty
Summary: Legend of Zelda AU. In the land of Termina is a race known as Next, blessed with god-like powers. Barnaby is one of them, living a fairly average life working for Mutoh's construction company and putting up with Kotetsu when he has to. When it's revealed Kotetsu is half Next and his daughter has powers of her own, though, she's kidnapped and they must set out to save her.


Okay so yeah this might seem like a bizarre idea, but I thought up the premise for a meme over on Tumblr and it wouldn't leave me alone. Only putting it in this category because well, Link isn't going to show up so even though the minor characters from Majora's Mask and the locations are used, it mostly centers around T&B characters. Yeah. Enjoy.

* * *

Chapter 1

It was around midnight before Barnaby finally got back into Clock Town, only a little tired. Mutoh always advised him to save his strength for his work, so when they were working on something outside of Clock Town and he had to cross Termina Field, Barnaby found himself running from monsters unless he absolutely had to engage them. He didn't have much interest in them, anyway. What were a few Moblins or Bubbles in the grand scheme of things?

He was sure it was midnight when the clock tower began chiming, and he frowned up at it, adjusting his glasses. He had the day off tomorrow, but he knew he'd end up getting up early either way. He just wanted to get to his tiny apartment in the east district and get to sleep.

He almost made it, too. If he hadn't had to pass by the Stock Pot Inn, he probably would've made it the entire way. But when he did, he saw a young girl standing outside, her arms folded and her face set in a pout. Barnaby wasn't a fan of children, but how could he ignore Kaede?

"…is something wrong?" he asked, calling over to her. When Kaede spotted him, she huffed and walked over, but she was blushing a little when she realized who it was addressing her. Kaede had a pretty obvious crush on him, even if he was over ten years older than her. She was precocious for her age of eleven, but he'd never even consider her.

Not that he considered a whole lot of people, anyway.

"My dad went to the milk bar," she said as if this were some new development and not something Kotetsu did at least once a week. He'd go over to the milk bar and end up staying there the entire night. Barnaby had encountered him there more than once, having a grand old time. He seemed to go there most when a local girl, Karina, was performing on the stage there. Barnaby wasn't sure what the story was between those two. "Anju says he has to work in the morning so he needs to come back. But they won't let me in since I don't have a mask."

And that was where Barnaby came in. He always felt incredibly silly putting that mask on, but Latte was one of the few places he enjoyed spending his free time, and it wasn't like he had to wear it while he was inside.

Barnaby took one glance down the square and heaved a long sigh. "I'll go get your father. Get back to bed. It's late."

Kaede just blushed and nodded, saying, "Thank you, Mr. Barnaby!" before skipping back inside the inn. Other people seemed to find Kaede's crush on him cute. Barnaby probably wouldn't have noticed if he didn't get the evil eye from her father whenever she acted like that around him. Not that Kotetsu could do much to him.

Latte was full to bursting tonight, and it was probably because, as Barnaby had predicted, Karina was on stage, singing her heart out. She was good at it, Barnaby had to admit, but he wasn't too concerned with her. Other than the fact that she was a Next, just like him. The only way to tell Nexts apart from Terminians was their glowing blue eyes. Literally glowing, actually. They'd been called hypnotizing, and a lot of people fell in love with Nexts just because of them. The glasses Barnaby wore did nothing to deter their apparent allure. But standing here in a crowded place, no one even paid attention to him.

Not even Kotetsu, who was sitting at a table near the stage and waving around a glass of milk as he talked to someone. His eyes were still on the stage, though, and so with Kotetsu's attention split, it was that much harder to get his attention.

"Kotetsu!" He finally had to yell, and when the man turned his yellow eyes over, he was greeted with a very stern frown. "Your daughter was wandering around looking for you. You have work in the morning."

Kotetsu paused, and then, "Oh, right. Sorry 'bout that, Bunny." He apologized to Barnaby like that was all he needed to do, but it wasn't like Barnaby was the one who'd suffer if Kotetsu was too tired in the morning to do anything but stand at the desk and stare blankly at the wall.

Karina was done singing for now, and just as Kotetsu stood, she left the stage and walked up to the table, arching an eyebrow. "I haven't seen you at one of my shows in a while, Barnaby."

"I've been working over in Snowhead," he muttered, turning his gaze away so he wouldn't have to look at those blue eyes of hers. And then he reached over and poked Kotetsu in the back, frowning again as he started rustling around in his bag instead of heading for the exit. "I came here because Kotetsu has work in the morning and his daughter wanted me to get him."

Karina twitched at that. She always seemed to twitch when Kotetsu's daughter was mentioned. Everyone but Kotetsu seemed to be aware that she had a crush on him, and why wouldn't she? He always went to her shows, and as demonstrated just now, he gave her tips even though she wasn't supposed to get any.

She had a chance, though. Kotetsu's wife was dead, having fallen to an illness that swept Clock Town and the surrounding areas five years ago. He still wore his wedding ring, but he seemed to be out of mourning at this point.

Kotetsu handed her a twenty Rupee gem and gave her a radiant smile before turning to the door. "Guess that's my cue to leave. I'll see you later, Bunny~"

"Oh no, old man," Barnaby said, folding his arms and going right after him. He had to ignore the indignant look Karina gave when she realized they were leaving together. "I'm bringing you right to the inn and making sure you go inside. You're not wandering around town again."

"That was one time!" He didn't protest as Barnaby followed him, though, and the noise of the milk bar was immediately muffled to a dull roar as the door closed behind them. "Aw, the big and powerful Bunny is going to escort this old man home?"

Barnaby frowned but didn't say anything. Kotetsu called him Bunny out of affection, he knew. A pet name he'd gotten used to. He'd called him that for years, ever since the Festival of Time when he'd won a Bunny Hood at one of the stands and gone the entire next week wearing it. As a child, Barnaby had been so proud of that hood, and he didn't mind Kotetsu calling him that. As a grown man of twenty-five, he couldn't help but wonder why Kotetsu still went on with it as if he were a little kid.

Not that he always treated him that way.

"Just… go home. Kaede's waiting for you." He waved a hand when they got close enough to the inn, and then frowned when Kotetsu reached up and ruffled his hair. "Kotetsu, I spend a lot of time on my hair in the morning."

"Time that would be better spent other ways, Lil Bunny." He winked before proceeding inside. Just before the door closed, Barnaby could hear Kaede's voice, chewing her father out for leaving on a work night. The inn wasn't incredibly busy this time of year, but they still got regular guests and Anju couldn't take care of it all alone.

Barnaby just shook his head and went on his way, nodding to the guard who was looking his way as he headed for his apartment. When he stopped, though, he realized that the guard wasn't looking at him, but someone who had just pushed past and into town.

…someone coming into Clock Town this late at night? He was sure it wasn't Mutoh or one of the other carpenters. They were kind of short, but that was the only discernible feature Barnaby could make out about them, because they had a cloak on with the hood up, hiding any physical feature that might distinguish them or make Barnaby recognize them.

Instead of heading into his little apartment, Barnaby stopped where he was and watched the stranger head for the inn. With the door open, he could hear Kotetsu calling out that he'd be with the person as soon as he got his daughter to bed, followed by protests from Kaede that she was too old to be tucked in like that.

That was all he heard, though. Even when he glanced in, the stranger kept their cloak hood up. And then the door swung open, closing off the world of the Stock Pot Inn to him again.

Barnaby frowned and opened his door, stepping inside. He had a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach, and he knew it wasn't because he was hungry after his long day of working. He'd have to go to the inn in the morning. Assuming this unsettling feeling even let him sleep.


End file.
